Favors
by The Other Black Sheep
Summary: It's a stormy, cold day in the winter of 1992, and Yukari Sakuragi finds herself without an umbrella. Fortunately for her, one of her fellow classmates has remembered his umbrella and is willing to share.


It was a chilly, soggy November day.

Yukari Sakuragi, a short, curly-haired student of Year 4 at Yomiyama Elementary, stared out the window. She paced back and forth, looking rather concerned. Buckets of rain were pouring outside, and strong gusts of wind ripped through the streets. A nasty storm was tearing through Yomiyama.

From behind her, a boy shut his locker. He slipped his shoes on, and looked up at the girl in front of him. He noticed that she seemed upset... "Everything OK?" He asked, not knowing her name.

Yukari put her head down, not facing him. "I forgot my umbrella... I didn't know it was going to rain today. And my mom's not home today, either, so I can't just call her..."

From behind, the boy smiled. "I remembered mine. If you want to, we can share." He stepped past her and out the front door. Struggling against the strong wind, he opened his umbrella.

The boy turned back towards Yukari, who simply stood there. The boy raised an eyebrow. "Are you coming?"

She turned to face him, surprised that someone was offering something like this. The boy before her was also short. He was pale and thin, and had dark, blue-ish hair that was cut into an embarrassing bowl haircut. He wore a pair of green framed glasses... Yukari squinted a little. She probably needed glasses too... actually, the boy did look a little fuzzy from where she stood. Still though, she remembered seeing this small boy around school every now and then. He seemed to be a quiet kid, much like her.

But in reply to his offer, Yukari shook her head. "I've seen you leave the school before. Our houses are in opposite directions, and, and... we can't just split the umbrella in half. I'll just wait here for the rain to clear up and then walk home by myself..."

The boy shrugged, "If you're waiting for the rain to clear, then you're going to be here all night. Look, I'll just walk you home and then go home myself. It isn't a big deal to have to walk back and forth."

Yukari lowered her eyes to the ground, and turned her foot back and forth against the ceramic tile of the school's floor. "But I don't even know who you are. I would feel bad making a random stranger do something this nice."

The boy looked surprised at this, and then closed his umbrella. He stepped back into the building, and held out his hand. With a broad grin, he spoke, "It's nice to meet you. My name is Tomohiko Kazami, and I'm a member of Class 2 of Year 4."

She too felt surprised, and she shook the other child's hand. "It's nice to meet you, too. My name is Yukari Sakuragi, and I'm in Class 5 of Year 4."

Kazami then took hold of Yukari's wrist, and tugged lightly. "See, Sakuragi-chan? Now we know each other."

Yukari shifted where she stood, indecisive. After a moment's pause, however, she followed Kazami outside. He opened the umbrella, and the two crowded underneath it. "Thank you," she muttered shyly, though she doubted the boy heard her.

The two turned from the Elementary school and began to make their way down the streets of Yomiyama, in the direction of Yukari's neighborhood. They walked in silence for a moment, listening to only the roar of the storm above them and their own quick breaths underneath the umbrella.

As they walked, Yukari spoke up. "So, what is Class 2 like?"

Kazami shrugged. "Everyone in it is really well-behaved... Except for Teshigawara-kun, of course. Teshigawara Naoya, do you know him?"

Yukari gave a big smile. "Teshigawara-kun? Of course I know him! He's really nice and funny."

Kazami nodded. "We're next-door neighbors, and we've been best friends since the 2nd Grade."

"Really? I'm so jealous!" The short, generally quiet girl exclaimed suddenly. "I wish I was in Class 2."

The small boy nodded. "I enjoy being in Class 2." He turned his head towards her and asked, "What is Class 5 like?" To which, for once in a long time, Yukari had much to say.

The walk from Yomiyama Elementary to the Sakuragi House was a long one. The rain poured heavily and the wind was terrible. But even though that day hadn't been so great, Yukari and Kazami kept up interesting conversation throughout the entire walk to the Sakuragi house. They talked about a wide variety of things, such as their different classes, their favorite foods, animes they liked and disliked, their favorite books, the things they did at home... The two spoke quickly and eagerly, unable to say what they had to say fast enough. Likewise, they didn't want to wait to hear what the other had to say, no matter what the subject was. It was a wonderful change of pace for them, as they were both generally quiet and reserved students. Being able to talk to someone who was on the same wavelength as them only pushed them to converse more and more.

Towards the end of their journey, Yukari slipped and fell on the ground. Kazami set the umbrella down, ignoring the torrents of rain coming from above and the mighty gusts of wind that made even standing difficult. He stooped down next to her, only to see she had scrapped up her knee badly.

"It's bleeding a lot," he observed. "That looks really painful..."

Yukari squinted at her knee. "It isn't that bad, is it?"

Kazami blinked, shocked. "Are you kidding? It's terrible!"

Yukari rubbed her eyes and shrugged. "I-I think I need glasses... I haven't been able to see very well lately. I can't even read in class."

Kazami raised an eyebrow. "That's not good. Why don't you tell someone?"

"I did," Yukari began. "I told my Mother, but she said we couldn't afford to get me any glasses. She says we don't have any money."

Kazami took note of his surroundings - Yukari lived in a lower end of town. The houses here were smaller than the houses in his neighborhood, and every building on every corner was run down. The grass in the yards was overgrown and weedy in patches, while it was completely dead in others. The sidewalks and streets were cracked, uneven, and broken up. That was probably the reason for her fall just now - _How?_ He wondered,_ If her eyesight is this bad, how does she not trip and hurt herself everyday?_

"You really need to buy some glasses," Kazami told her. "Otherwise you'll get in an accident and be really hurt." He took off his own glasses, and handed them to her. "Here, try these on. Can you see any better?"

Yukari put on Kazami's green frames, and stared around, blinking in surprise. She glanced down at her wounded knee, did a double-take, and gasped. "Is it really this bad?"

Kazami turned his head to the side. "Your knee, or your eyes?"

Yukari slumped her shoulders down, a saddened expression on her face. "Both, I guess..."

Kazami stood up. "Well, let's get you home fast." He blinked against the wind, and by force of habit, he tried to push up his glasses - only to remember that they weren't there. "Can I have my glasses back?"

Disappointed that her improved vision could last only for that moment, she handed him the glasses. Kazami put them back on, and then reached out a hand to her. She took his hand, and stood up. Dazed, she asked, "Tomohiko-kun? What happened to the umbrella...?"

Suddenly, with this statement, the buckets and torrents of rain pouring upon them became evident. Kazami realized he had set the umbrella down when he had stooped to help Yukari, and then-

He spun around, in the direction the wind blew. Their umbrella was now in the tree above, snagged and ripped into sharp branches. He sighed and slumped his shoulders. "Let's just hurry up and get back to your house. Where is it?"

Yukari pointed. "It's just at the end of the street..."

The two weary children trudged their way down the street in the cold of the storm. Due to her knee, Yukari limped unsteadily as she walked, and that slowed her down - fortunately for her, Kazami waited for her and even took her arm in his to help her keep balance. After what seemed like ages, the two were standing at Yukari's front door.

"Thank you so much," Yukari thanked Kazami for his kind favor, and she gave him a hug. Reluctantly, Kazami hugged back. He shook his head.

"It's nothing."

The two parted, and Yukari opened her front door. As she was about to disappear into her house, however, she turned back towards Kazami - a small, shivering boy who was wet and cold and without even an umbrella in the rough storm that was going on. As he was about to step off the porch, she spoke softly,

"Umm... Do you want to come inside? You can get something hot to eat and get dry."

Kazami stopped. He turned around to face Yukari Sakuragi, and then with an exceptionally weary mutter:

"That would be nice..."

Other than those two small children, the Sakuragi house was completely empty of guests. Kazami helped Yukari fix the wound on her leg, and then the two made bowls of steaming hot chicken noodle soup. Just a few minutes after arriving to the house, they sat at the kitchen table, wrapped in warm blankets. Compared to the harsh winds and rain of outside, sitting at that table was heavenly.

They sat in silence for a moment, listening to only the roar of the storm above them and their own quick breaths underneath the roof of the house. The room was completely dark, other than a small, flickering light that hung over the table.

As they silently drank their soup, Yukari spoke up. With hesitance, she asked, "...Tomohiko-kun? Have you heard about the Class 3 at Yomiyama North Middle School?"

Kazami yawned, tired from the long day. "The one the older kids say is cursed?" To which Yukari nodded.

"What about it?"

Yukari pushed her empty bowl to the side, and rested her head on the table. She became silent, and the buzz of static from the light above suddenly seemed much louder. She stared up at him, bathed in filthy yellow light. She asked, "We're in the part of town that has to go there for school, right? Yomiyama North Middle?"

Kazami turned his head to the side, curious as to what was really bothering her. "Yeah, we'll go to that school some day. Why are you asking?"

Yukari sat bolt upright, squinted her eyes and kicked her feet under the table, uncomfortable. "My cousin had that class this year. She just died two days ago. That's why my mother isn't home right now. She's at Mariko-chan's funeral."

Kazami trembled slightly at the mention of death, though he hid this movement by pushing up his green frames once more. For a moment, he was silent. "...I'm really sorry about that. I give my condolences, Sakuragi-chan."

She clenched her fists, and quickly shot back, "But what happens if I get that class too?"

He put his elbows on the table, and then put his head in his hands, thinking. "If you do happen to get that class... what do they call the curse of Class 3? The Calamity? ...If you get that class, think of this as my favor to you: I'll make sure the Calamity doesn't get you or hurt you or do anything bad." He let a pleasant smile show for Yukari. "I owe you for letting me stay at your house."

Yukari stopped fidgeting and her eyes went wide. "Really? You would do that?"

Kazami only nodded. "I owe you some sort of a favor now, don't I?"

She seemed much more relaxed now, as she smiled back at him and lifted her hands to her chest, excited.

"OK! But I guess I owe you a favor again, too," she began. "You let me use your umbrella, even though you could have just left me in the rain... and now you're saying you won't let anything bad happen, so, I'm doing a favor for you, too: If you get Class 3, I'll make sure the Calamity doesn't touch you, either."

Kazami pushed his glasses up, and kept his hand over them. "Should we make this a promise?"

"Of course!" She clapped her hands together, clearly very pleased with Kazami's suggestion.

"Good." Kazami lowered his hand from his glasses to reveal a charming grin, and he held out his pinkie finger. Calmly, he spoke to Yukari. "Then, I promise, Sakuragi Yukari, that I will not let the Calamity of Class 3 ever get you or hurt you."

Yukari Sakuragi held up her pinkie finger, and crossed it Kazami Tomohiko's.

"And I promise, Tomohiko Kazami, that if you get Class 3, the Calamity will not touch you."

""If I break my promise, I need to swallow 1000 needles,"" the two children said together as they shook pinkies on their promises. Thunder cracked outside, as if the Gods themselves were also sealing this promise.

With that, the two unhooked their pinkies and set their hands back down, their promises to one another now official.

"Just watch," Kazami spoke as he finished the last of his chicken noodle soup, "Neither of us will even end up in that cursed class."

Yukari giggled. "Yeah, probably. But, we promised just to be safe, right?"

"Right."

Kazami nodded his head once as he spoke that word, and then yawned again. Outside, it was pitch black and the storm raged. Much too dark and cold for such a young boy to be walking home alone... So, when Yukari Sakuragi's mother came home from the funeral that evening, she found two children asleep on her couch. They were both sick with colds, sniffling and sneezing in their sleep. Despite this, they both seemed to be very calm and at rest. The two children had obviously fallen asleep sitting upright and sitting next to one another, as their heads were pressed together in their sleep.

The mother had to wake up the boy, and ask him his name. Twenty minutes later, his own mother came to pick him up. The mother of the boy, in question, had been extremely concerned as to his whereabouts and was glad to see he was safe.

Before leaving, Kazami asked if he could say goodbye to Yukari. Unfortunately for him, she was still asleep. Kazami didn't get a chance to say goodbye.

* * *

><p>The next day at lunch, Teshigawara Naoya sat alone at his desk. <em>What a bad day<em>, he thought to himself as he flicked at the bread crumbs that rested on his bagged lunch._ Today is so boring! Not only is Kazami sick, but Sakuragi-san, also?_

What an unfortunate coincidence...

* * *

><p><span>AN: I doubt anyone else ships those two, but whatever, I'm chill with my lonely Yukari/Kazami corner. c: Reviews are nice I guess.


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